


Are You Growing Without Me?

by comicfanperson



Series: JNPR and friends [14]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, Aromantic Character, Asexual Character, Awkward Conversations, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Dynamics, Feels, Gen, Multi, Polyamorous Jaune Arc/Lie Ren/Pyrrha Nikos/Nora Valkyrie, Team as Family, no shipping the sonboye
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-03-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:22:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23343157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/comicfanperson/pseuds/comicfanperson
Summary: A confusing series of events leads up to an awkward family dinner conversation.(Oscar spends time with people, JNP each sees something different and yet all think they saw the same thing, and Ren loves his silly little family.)
Relationships: Jaune Arc & Oscar Pine, Jaune Arc & Pyrrha Nikos & Oscar Pine & Lie Ren & Nora Valkyrie, Jaune Arc/Lie Ren, Jaune Arc/Lie Ren/Pyrrha Nikos/Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren/Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren/Pyrrha Nikos, Oscar Pine & Lie Ren, Oscar Pine & Nora Valkyrie, Oscar Pine & Penny Polendina, Oscar Pine & Ruby Rose, Oscar Pine & Whitley Schnee, Pyrrha Nikos & Oscar Pine
Series: JNPR and friends [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1632898
Comments: 24
Kudos: 77





	Are You Growing Without Me?

**Author's Note:**

> OK.
> 
> ALRIGHT.
> 
> SO- 
> 
> This,,,,,,,,, took a week and half-ish becaue i just couldnt get it to work Quite Right for me. but here we are now, fortunately. im really glad this turned out so well, and was only made better by the most fantastic beta in all of history: @albion-93(tumblr)/Albion_93(Ao3)
> 
> and uhhhhhhhhhhh,,,,, i made some friends??? lol??? anyways id like to thank ShadowSnowdapple and AriaNeige for their help with the flower bit!!! it means so much :,) anyways, a big thanks to everybody who has been supporting me, its been incredible getting to know some of the writers that i love and im just,,,, so fucking grateful. 
> 
> aright, one last thing, this is NOT a shipfic. pls dont call it such. if u came here for any ship with Oscar pls pack ur bags bc u wont find it here.
> 
> oki dok, pls enjoy the fic <3

_ He’s late,  _ and that was all Pyrrha could think about as she sat in the living room, holding a cup of green tea that had long since gone cold, the TV playing reruns of some awful reality show. It was near midnight, she glanced toward the window and there was still no sign of anyone. She bounced her leg nervously, glancing at the clock way more often than she should’ve been. The minutes seemed to drag on painfully slow, and the young woman was downright terrified of what could be taking him so long. 

_ Was there a car crash? Were they ambushed? Or maybe he was talked into drinking alcohol?! Or doing drugs?!  _

A warm hand was suddenly on her thigh, forcing her to stop the bouncing, and by extension the over-thinking. She immediately felt the tension flow out of her body.

“He’s okay, Pyrrha,” Ren said softly, gazing into her eyes, “He’s only fifteen minutes late.” 

“Yes, but this is his first time out so late without one of us since-”

“And we can trust him,” Ren reminded her, “If he doesn’t come home or contact us in the next five minutes, then we’ll call.”

She sighed in frustration, “You’re right. I trust him.”

And then the front door opened. 

Pyrrha set her mug on the table beside her quickly, and jumped off the couch to greet the young teen at the door. She rounded the corner and saw him standing there with Ruby, a big smile on the Huntress’s face. 

“Goodnight, Oscar,” Ruby said warmly, rubbing the younger’s shoulder.

“Goodnight, Ruby!” he beamed, “I really had a lot of fun with you.” 

“Yeah!” she agreed, “We should go out together more often.”

“Maybe we could go bowling next time?” Oscar asked with a playful grin, not unlike an overeager puppy. 

“That is such a good idea! I would  _ totally  _ crush you at it,” she grinned back, already set for the challenge. 

Oscar rolled his eyes, “You may be a mighty Huntress, but I grew up doing farmwork, and Aunt Em didn’t raise a guy that didn’t have  _ superior _ upper body strength.”

Ruby gave a feined offended gasp, “I would  _ never  _ underestimate you! Really, Oscar? After everything we’ve been through together?”

“Yeah, yeah,” he laughed, pushing her back some as she closed in on him, “But in all seriousness, Ruby, this was a lot of fun.”

She smiled genuinely at him, “Who knew you could be so good at arcade games!” 

“Nora and Jaune really like them,” he shrugged, “I’ve picked up a few things.” 

“Keep at it and you might be able to rival me or Yang one day,” she winked. 

The two shared a bout of laughter, and he gave her one last quick hug and goodbye, his hand lingering on her back, and hers on his shoulder. Pyrrha stifled a giggle at the adorable interaction, silently wondering if there was something more happening. As soon as the front door had shut, Pyrrha stood as tall and imposing as she possibly could, startling Oscar pretty badly when he turned around. 

“Oh! Pyrrha!” he smiled, seeming completely oblivious to her suspicious demeanor.

“So,” she started with a smirk, crossing her arms over her chest and  _ trying _ to sound stern, “What exactly took you so long getting home?” 

He smiled nervously, reaching for the back of his head, “We got to a really hard level in one of the games, and I wanted to beat it so bad and uh… I guess the time just slipped away? I’m sorry, Pyrrha.”

“Alright,” Pyrrha laughed, her bright red hair bouncing with it, “I understand. We just worry about you, you know?”   
  


Oscar gave her a tight hug, Pyrrha leaned in and kissed his forehead. 

“Yeah. I know.”

She escorted Oscar to his bedroom and stayed as he tucked himself in, smiling fondly and wishing him goodnight. An hour later, long after Pyrrha and Ren had snuggled up in bed with their partners, the red-headed Huntress found herself unable to sleep. If Oscar really  _ was _ into Ruby, then maybe she should do her best to give advice, and not hold him down so much. He was growing up after all, and having an interest in romance was normal. It wouldn’t be healthy for her to try and suppress that, but well… Pyrrha had grown used to being protective of the young teen, she didn’t want to see him grow up and move on… not so soon. 

The Huntress groaned internally,  _ I sound like somebody’s mother…  _

Except, she  _ had  _ become his mother, in a way, right? They had all started seeing the teen in a more childlike way lately, but more than that as  _ their  _ child. 

“Ren?” she whispered against the back of his neck from where she had taken up the position of big spoon. 

“Hm?” he replied, sounding just as awake as she did. 

“Do we coddle him too much?”

“Pyrrha… it’s past midnight.”

“Oh, I’m sor-”

“Of  _ course  _ we don’t, Pyrrha” he whispered to her, trying not to show too much annoyance to his partner, “You’re just overthinking this. It’s late, and you need sleep even more than  _ we  _ do.”

“I love you, Ren,” she whispered into his ear.

“And I you, Pyrrha Nikos.”

She sighed happily, and found herself curling up tight to her boyfriend, still unable to truly believe this was the life she now led. A Huntress, a partner, a… a  _ mother?  _

Even just seven months ago it had seemed impossible from where she had been held in Salem’s clutches, but now it was simply perfect. She had reunited with her family, and embraced someone new into their fold. So, she let herself drift off, thinking about how she hoped Oscar would manage to woo Ruby into at least  _ one  _ date.

~*~

It was a calm Sunday morning, and Nora was in the living room sorting through old magazines trying to figure out which ones would best be put towards the recycle bin. Then, without warning, Oscar came barrelling down the staircase, an excitement about him that had seemed rare lately. Nora watched Oscar speed for the front door the second the doorbell rang, and she found herself smiling at his goofy antics.

“Were you expecting someone?” she called after him.

“ _ Yes!”  _ he yelped, sounding more panicked than intended, and Nora outright snorted at the sound that the front door made at being swung open so quickly.

When she heard Oscar’s nervous but eager voice talking to one she didn’t quite recognize, Nora decided to get up and investigate. She was in shock upon seeing Whitley Schnee standing in their foyer, a light flush on his face as he presented Oscar with what appeared to be a delicately wrapped gift. Nora stared wide-eyed at the young Schnee heir, to say he was different from Oscar in every single way  possible would be an  _ understatement _ .

“You really didn’t have to, Whitley,” Oscar said, staring at the metallic wrapping paper with appropriate awe.

Whitley snorted as if Oscar’s statement was completely ridiculous, “Well, of  _ course  _ I didn’t. But…” and here was the interesting part, he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and turned an even deeper shade of red, “I wanted to.”

Oscar looked away from the taller teen nervously, “Oh, uh, thank you. C-Can I open it?”

“Yes, you may,” Whitley answered, sticking both hands in the pockets of his slacks stiffly. 

Gingerly, Oscar unwrapped the present from where the tape had been place, being careful not to tear the paper or add any new creases. From where Nora stood, she couldn’t see what was inside the box, but she  _ could  _ see the expression on Oscar’s face. He was over-freaking-joyed. The overprotective part in Nora bristled at that, but the more hyper part thought it was absolutely adorable. 

“Whitley!” Oscar gasped, running his finger over whatever was hidden away in the box, “I can’t believe you actually…” 

“I remember you telling me how badly you wanted it,” Whitley shrugged, his eyes firmly glued on the floor, “Think of it as thanks for helping me out the other weekend. I… owed you one.”

Oscar gave his friend a quick but tight hug, “Thank you, Whitley. I really appreciate it.” 

Whitley artlessly returned it, and they broke away, the two acting no more graceful than before. 

“How does next Friday sound? We can go to a new yacht club that opened up,” Whitley offered with a smirk.

“Don’t you have, like,  _ work? _ ” Oscar asked with a frown, putting the lid back on the small box and putting into the pocket of his work jeans. 

“The CEO is allowed quite a few privileges, I'll have you know. I was planning on taking the day off,” Whitley admitted flippantly, “I can have you flown out around 11?”

“Can I get back to you on that later?” Oscar asked with an apologetic smile, “I’ll have to talk to the rest of my team about it, they were hesitant enough about the banquet.”

“Fair enough,” Whitley said a little regretfully, “I must be off, my sister’s  _ friend  _ wanted to do some ‘family activities’ this afternoon.” 

Oscar made a sour but sympathetic face, “Good luck on that, man.”

“Thank you, Oscar, for…  _ all  _ of your help,” Whitley said softly.

As the last goodbyes were said, Nora began to replay the interaction over and over again in her head  _ already.  _ What was in the box? What did Oscar help Whitley with? Why did Whitley want Oscar going to a  _ yacht  _ club with him? 

She eyed the youngest Schnee suspiciously, stalked off to the kitchen, and saw Ren sitting at the table in there just sipping on a mug of tea and reading a well-worn book. 

“Ren?” she asked him tensely. 

“Yes, Nora?” he asked, turning the page in his book.

“Do you think I should beat up Whitley Schnee  _ now  _ or wait until he actually hurts Oscar?”

Ren sighed deeply, “And why do you say that, Nora?”

“I think he like  _ likes _ Oscar, and- and Oscar is  _ way  _ too young for that!” she told him, throwing her hands up into the air, “Plus I don’t trust Whitley!” 

“Nora, how old were you when you started liking me?”

“Thirteen, but I don’t see how that’s-”

“How old is Oscar?”

The Huntress gasped and sputtered as she tried to think of a response, “Th-That’s not-!”

“Yes it is, Nora.”

She groaned dramatically and sat down next to Ren, pushing her hands against her forehead, “We’re not old, right?” 

“Hmm, depends on your definition,” Ren said, taking another sip from his mug. 

“Oh,  _ Brothers _ , we’re old.”

He gave her a questioning look, “Nora… we’re nearly twenty, what is your definition of  _ old?”  _

“Old enough to stop being unable to keep up with the younger generation,” she answered sourly, chin resting dejectedly on the edge of the table. 

“I’m fairly certain we’re in the same generation as him.”

“It sure doesn’t feel like it,” she pouted, “You’ll love me even when I start getting wrinkles in my forehead, right?”

He put his book down in favor of looking her right in the eye, “I might love you more. It means we’ve done our job of keeping you happy and smiling.” 

Nora couldn’t resist reaching up to place a big kiss on his lips, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” he murmured, gently rubbing his forehead against hers. 

~*~

It was a bright and sunny Tuesday morning, which was why Jaune was in such a bad mood. It should be illegal for  _ anyone  _ to be up so early, let alone two kids who apparently had  _ wanted _ to! Oscar had been asking them for weeks if he could have Penny over to show her some of his favorite tricks for planting flowers, and Jaune had a really hard time saying no to that face. Oscar didn’t even try to look extra adorable or anything, it just happened. 

It was  _ completely  _ unfair,  _ and  _ put Jaune at a disadvantage! The second he tried to tell Oscar to pick a later time in the day, Nora and Pyrrha would crowd around him and get identical frowns on their faces, and of course Ren was no help at all. So, to avoid upsetting his four favorite people in the entire universe, Jaune gave a tight smile and said  _ yes.  _

To yardwork. 

At eight-thirty in the morning. 

_ Damn it. _

Granted, Jaune didn’t really have to  _ do  _ anything other than watch them and make sure no one got hurt or do something stupid, intentionally or otherwise. Which, in all honesty, was completely ridiculous considering that Penny and Oscar were more mature than all of Team RWBY combined, and Jaune was more likely to suggest doing a dumb thing than they were. 

But there he sat, on a lawn chair in full sunlight, sipping on a hot cup of overly sweet coffee, listening to the kids chatter as Oscar pointed out his favorite flowers to Penny. 

“Those are the wild flowers,” he grinned, kneeling down to gently stroking a finger over the petals of a white one, “They’re the easiest to grow.’   
  


Penny gave an awed gasp, her eyes twinkled with excitement, and she copied his movements, “Oscar, they are so pretty!”

He blushed a bit and glanced back down at the flowers, purposefully avoiding her gaze, “Aren’t they? Maybe you should consider adding them to your flower beds.”

Penny nodded eagerly, “I think I will, especially if they’re so simple.” 

“I can help you plant them if you want,” he offered shyly, then gestured to the rest of the flower garden, “Here, let me show you some of the others!” 

And so they went, Jaune vaguely listening in as Oscar talked about lavender and daisies, both of which he was surprised to learn they had. Okay, it made sense Oscar would know a thing or two about flowers, he was raised on a farm after all, but he didn’t expect this level of enthusiasm from Penny. He looked up from his scroll at one point to see Penny hovering so close to Oscar’s shoulder that the knight could have sworn she was about to lean in to kiss him. 

She had  _ no  _ business being so close to his so- friend! 

Jaune began to realize that Penny was one of the only friends Oscar had that was actually near his age. Or so they assumed, considering Penny was either only a few years old, or a very old being considering Pietro’s semblance. Still, she and Oscar got along great, and Jaune was surprised to see they got along well enough for the ex-farmhand to give her gardening pointers. How weird was that? What kind of relationship did that mean Oscar  _ had  _ with Penny? What was the  _ deal  _ with Penny? 

“Oh! And of course, make sure you get good soil,” Oscar reminded her with that bright smile of his, “It’s probably the most important part…” 

“Wow! I never knew all this, Oscar,” she admitted, the fascination never once leaving her tone.

“W-Well- I mean, there’s a first time for everything,” Oscar shrugged, blushing beet red, “And I  _ was  _ raised on it…”

“This is still something you are very good at,” Penny tapped her chin thoughtfully, and then grabbed Oscar’s hand to inspect it with a frown, “I would say you have a green thumb but it doesn’t appear…?”

Jaune’s heart almost leapt out of his chest when Penny did that. The Huntsman wasn’t sure what it was that had him so on edge but he did  _ not  _ like that she was being so friendly towards Oscar. It was honestly grinding on Jaune’s nerves, and if it didn’t mean so much to Oscar he might’ve forced them to go inside so he could make sure they were on the opposite ends of the room as each other. But… Oscar was his own person, he could make his own decisions, and the young teen had specifically asked for this time in the garden with Penny… 

The blonde closed his eyes and slipped on a pair of sunglasses, sinking back in his chair and pointedly  _ not  _ looking at the two.

“Penny!” Oscar laughed, “It’s a figure of speech, it doesn’t mean your thumb is  _ actually  _ green, just that you’re good with plants.”

“Oh,” she said, brows furrowed adorably, “That makes  _ much _ more sense.”

“I’ll help you get a green thumb in no time, Penny,” Oscar told her confidently, a certain  _ something  _ in his voice that Jaune couldn’t recognize. 

That was it, Jaune thought firmly, he needed to talk to Oscar about love before any mistakes were made. Jaune looked down at his now-empty coffee cup and decided now was as good a time as any for a refill. 

“I’m going to be right back,” Jaune alerted the two before stepping into the house through the front door. He went straight for the coffee pot, barely acknowledging his boyfriend, who was getting an early start on lunch. Ren, however, was very much aware of how tense Jaune was, and decided he really did  _ not  _ like it at all. 

“Another cup?” Ren asked from where he was chopping up some garlic for the casserole.

Jaune sighed heavily and at great length, like a man who had been through five divorces, had nine kids, and was hundreds of thousands in debt, “It’s that kind of morning, Ren.”

The raven-haired Huntsman snorted at his boyfriend’s dramatics, “Really now? Over gardening in the morning?”

“You should see the way Oscar is acting around Penny right now,” Jaune mumbled, pouring Nora’s favorite coffee creamer into his cup, “I should’ve known this day would come but I wasn’t ready…” 

Ren set down the knife, and turned to Jaune with practiced patience, “What day?”

“The one where we have to sit Oscar down and talk to him about romance and- and love and stuff!”

Ren raised an eyebrow, “ ‘And love and stuff’ ?” 

“Yes!” Jaune whined, grabbing a spoon to give his coffee a quick stir, “I thought that it would be a few years away, but here he is! Flirting!”

“And you’re sure about this?” 

“Yeah, I’m going to talk to the girls about it tonight but I really think we should just go ahead and get it over with…” the knight looked at his boyfriend lovingly, “You always know what to say. I love you, Ren.”

Ren exhaled through his nose, silently wondering how well this would actually go, “I love you, Jaune.”

~*~

“Have you guys noticed Oscar acting strange lately?” Jaune asked as he finished drying his hair with a super fluffy towel. 

“ _ Yes _ ,” Nora and Pyrrha groaned at the exact same time, then met eyes from opposite sides of the room and grinned amusedly at each other.

“It’s just this one person I think…” Pyrrha mused as she brushed out her long red hair at the vanity.    
  
Nora squealed excitedly as she pulled her pyjama shirt over her head, “You’ve seen it too?!” 

“I’m… still coming to terms with it,” Pyrrha admitted.

Jaune nodded his agreement, climbing into the bed next to Ren who was finishing up a chapter in his book, “Me too, but I think we should just talk to him about it. He’s young, and these feelings are probably new and, well, I think we just need to be there for him, be supportive and understanding.”

“Are you sure?” Pyrrha asked Jaune from where she was now perched on the foot of the bed.    
  
Jaune looked her straight in the eye, “We  _ need  _ to talk to him, or things could go really wrong really fast.”   
  
“How about tomorrow night? At dinner?” Nora suggested pulling Pyrrha into bed with them for soft snuggles. 

“It’s probably for the best,” Pyrrha murmured. 

Jaune wrapped an arm around Ren’s shoulders and made sure his boyfriend looked into his eyes, “Are you okay with this?”

“Yes,” Ren answered, an amused smile on his face, which  _ was  _ fairly odd considering the situation, but it was decided. 

The next dinner rolled around way too quickly, and the anticipation of the coming conversation had accidentally created a very tense and awkward air between the five. Oscar kept giving them weird looks because of the not-so-subtle comments they were making, and he had taken to a defensive position in his chair. Jaune felt really bad for him, but he also wanted to make sure they had this conversation. It was important. 

It was about half-way through when Pyrrha finally broached the subject, “So, Oscar, we’ve all noticed that there’s a certain someone you’ve been getting closer to lately…”

He looked up at her in surprise, a fork sticking out his mouth, as he gave a garbled sound of surprise. This was met with a look of disapproval from Nora, she didn’t care for him talking with his mouth full.

“What do you mean?” Oscar asked once he had put his fok down on his plate, looking at them with deep concern. 

“Well,” Nora grinned cheekily, “We all figured it out pretty quick, I mean you two  _ have _ been spending a lot of time together.”

“Uh…  _ what?”  _ Oscar frowned, obviously confused.   
  
“You know,” Jaune said, pointing the end of his fork right at Oscar. 

But the young teen just tilted his head in confusion, “Know…  _ what?”  _

“Your crush,” Pyrrha clarified, casually taking a sip of water. 

“ _ Huh?!”  _

“On Whitley!” Nora grinned teasingly. 

“ _ Whitley?!”  _ Oscar, Jaune, and Pyrrha all exploded at the same time. 

“Wait- No, it’s a crush on  _ Penny,”  _ Jaune insisted. 

Pyrrha glanced between her partners with confusion, “It’s on Ruby, you said you saw how they were acting together-” 

“Wait, wait, hold on!” Oscar interrupted, “Let’s go back to the part where you think I have a  _ crush.” _

Jaune, Nora, and Pyrrha exchanged troubled looks. It didn’t make sense. Why was Oscar denying this so vehemently? Why did he seem so genuinely baffled? And most importantly,  _ why  _ couldn’t they agree on who Oscar’s crush was? 

“The way you talked to her!” Jaune exclaimed.    
  
“The  _ blushing!”  _ Nora groaned. 

“The connection,” Pyrrha pointed out, arguably the calmest one of all of them. 

Oscar just stared at them, completely bewildered, “...You mean having  _ friends?” _

The three gave him open-mouthed stares. Ren started laughing so loudly and so hard, that it took them all out of their shocked stupors. 

_ “Ren _ ?” Nora said, sounding both angry and confused.

“H-Hold on-” he wheezed, gasping for air as he gripped the edge of the table, completely bending over and laughter flooding out of his system. 

His four teammates watched in shock at his reaction, his laughter was so raw and real that they felt even more perplexed than before. How did Ren manage to find this situation so funny?

“We’re trying to deal with the fact Oscar is growing up,” Jaune deadpanned, looking very tired as he stared at his howling boyfriend. 

“I-I know- I just- HAA- you all thought- HAHAAA-” 

Oscar suddenly began to break up into giggles as well, face cracking open with a smile, “It’s pretty weird, right?”

“ _ Definitely,”  _ Ren agreed, finally recovering from whatever he found so hilarious. 

“So- wait, no crushes?” Pyrrha clarified. 

“None,” Oscar smiled.

“No flirting?” Jaune asked.

Oscar made a disgusted face, “What? _ Never.  _ That’s… just how I interact with friends.”

“But wait!” Nora exclaimed, “What about the gift from Whitley?!”

“What about it?”

“Why did he give it to you?! What was in it? C’mon, farm boy, spill!”

“Oh, well,” he blushed slightly, “When I went to that banquet with him, I helped him approach this guy he found attractive, and so as thanks, Whitley bought me a set of expensive fishing hooks I’ve been wanting lately. And now he wants me to go help him again at the yacht club, ha…” 

“You’re a wingman?” Jaune asked, looking very impressed. 

“I… I guess?” 

Nora sniffed dramatically, “I’m so proud.”

“And I’m glad we don’t have to talk about potential romance for you,” Pyrrha winked, “At least not yet, anyways.”

Oscar looked away uncomfortably, “Maybe not ever…”

“What do you mean? Of course you’ll find love,” Jaune argued flippantly, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

“Well… what if I don’t want to? I’ve never had romantic or-” he frowned and convulsed a little as though he was having trouble just digesting the thought, “physical intimate attraction at all ever. That’s… not normal, right? I’m a teenage boy I’m supposed to be… really into that but I’m just broken…” 

“Oscar  _ no _ ,” Pyrrha said, worry and sadness filling her voice, “There is absolutely nothing wrong with you.”

“B-But I-”

“No,” Jaune said firmly, “If having certain thoughts and feelings is normal, then so is having a lack of them.”

“You are not alone in feeling this way,” Ren reassured him, “Ruby does too.” 

“She does?!” Oscar shouted, eyes widening with anxiety, “She never said anything!”

“She told me she doesn’t feel the need to,” Ren explained gently and shrugged, “And honestly? Neither should you. You don’t have to go through life feeling like you owe people an explanation. Just be yourself, Oscar. That’s how everyone likes you.”

Oscar gave his team a tearful smile, and he was suddenly enveloped in large and tight hugs from his family. 

“Th-Thanks, guys…” he murmured, feeling his muscles relax as the panic seeped out. 

“Anything for you,” Nora replied, patting him gently on the head. 

“We love you no matter what, okay?” Pyrrha said, lifting his chin so he was looking her right in the eye. 

“Okay,” Oscar smiled.

He felt truly safe here, with these people. Truly happy. He trusted his team. He trusted his family. And now, with even the smallest things coming into the light, Oscar found himself feeling more complete than he ever had before. 


End file.
